Raised to kill instead of love
by Stardustz6
Summary: What would've happened if Cato and Clove won the Hunger Games? How would the Capitol react? Rated M for later scenes. *I do not own the HG or the characters*
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: well here it is guys; the first part of my Clato story! It will be updated whenever i get the time to. Which hopefully after all my exams will be more often! (Bearing in mind i have another fic that i am also writing at the same time as this one) Anyway I hope you enjoy it! :D**

**Chapter 1**

Cato and I were the only ones left out of the careers; we heard the cannon go off twice. Marvel was nowhere to be seen, we both wanted him to come bounding through the forest celebrating a double kill. However as the minutes ticked by we became more sceptic that he survived, after all; that bitch from 12 probably killed him.

I threw a knife into a nearby tree. This was frustrating, we still had to get rid of the guy from 11, the girl from 5 and then whichever one of the _star-crossed lovers _was left. It wasn't impossible, just frustrating that it was now up to Cato and I alone, that and our food supply had been recently blown up.

"Calm down Clove." Cato instructed as he paced back and forth amongst the rubble of our supplies. "You'll give away our position."

"I think they know we're already here Cato." I sulked. "It's pretty damn obvious."

"Look, it's not _my _fault he went off on his own." He protested "I mean I would've gone with him but-"

"But what? Scared to leave me alone?" I snapped "I would've been fine Cato."

"What would've happened if that guy from 11 showed up? You would've stood no chance."

"Oh hush Cato." I growled. I hated how he thought that size mattered, he saw me kill several other tributes – why did he think that now I was too small to take down someone twice my size? I could easily kill _him_ if I wanted to.

Night was approaching quickly, with no Marvel around our camp seemed emptier than it already had. First were Glimmer and the girl from four during the tracker-jacker chaos, then that prat from three who basically blew up our food and now possibly Marvel. It was getting too quiet around here.

"Do you want to take first watch?" Cato asked me.

"Let's wait and see who died first – Marvel could be alive and in the woods somewhere." I said, I was sceptical to say the least, but there was a slim chance he was just too injured to move.

"I doubt it, but okay." Cato muttered, sitting on the grass next to our dwindling food stocks. I sat next to him and lay my knives out in a line, debating which one I'd kill the district 12 mutt with. I soon felt quite drowsy but refused to give in until I knew Marvel's fate – we careers had to stick together until the final act.

* * *

The loud anthem played throughout the arena and woke me up; I looked to Cato who also looked stunned and somewhat half-asleep. We looked at the sky which showed the Capitol's logo before it was replaced with Marvel's picture. So he was dead. Cato and I were the last one's standing out of our pack. The only other picture that came up was of the girl from 11, the friend of the love-stricken Katniss. I was about to tell Cato that I wanted first sleep when an announcement followed the anthem;

"There has been a rule change! From now on if two tributes from the same district are still alive they may both be victors. I repeat; if two tributes from the same district are still alive they may both be victors."

Our eyes met each other's. We could seriously win this and go home basking in glory and honour. "The only other tributes who could win are the girl on fire and loverboy." Cato stated. "We have this in the bag."

"So who do we go after first?" I asked

"11. He's our biggest threat physically. Loverboy is too injured to move so Firegirl won't leave his side. God knows where the girl from five is."

"Okay, so when should we get him?"

"Let's rest tonight; I think I know where he's hiding. I'll take first watch."

I nodded and collected my knives up before settling down in a sleeping bag. With the hope that I will be able to go home a victor I fell asleep quickly.

* * *

"Hey wake up." Cato's voice drifted into my head. "Clove, get up. I'm tired."

"There's always room for one more…" I mumbled sleepily.

"Nice try, it's your turn to be watch." He smirked. It was still fairly dark in the arena, I got up and sat beside Cato's sleeping bag. I took out a knife and started sharpening it – waiting for someone or something to attack. After a while I glanced over at the sleeping Cato, his facial muscles had relaxed and he looked quite peaceful, the sun was peeking over the horizon slowly, illuminating the fairly damaged land around us. I found some food in one of the rucksacks and ate whilst surveying my surroundings.

If we weren't fighting for our lives then I'd have relaxed more, however ignorance kills in the arena and I wasn't going to die because of it. I slotted all of my knives back into their holders within my clothing; I then debated waking Cato up so we could hurry up and kill another tribute. However one look at his sleeping face made me think otherwise – I couldn't disturb him, one; he'd probably be annoyed and two; he looked too peaceful.

"Stop being stupid Clove." I muttered to myself. "He'd tell you to do something useful like patrol the cornucopia." So I got up and walked around the grassland surrounding the metal shell, it had surprisingly survived the explosion a yesterday.

As I continued peering into the trees, looking for any sign of another tribute, I became aware of the feeling of being watched. It was still too dark to tell if there was anyone around so I climbed on top of the cornucopia for a better look. The sun's rays were only starting to lighten the grass and the trees around the clearing; I couldn't tell if there was anyone watching me but the feeling was still there. Perhaps I could just sense the cameras of the Capitol focusing on me, maybe I was the only one awake, maybe they had gotten bored of the star-crossed lovers. I laughed; they'd never get tired of them, not unless someone took their place….

"Stupid Clove." I muttered. "Cato would never go for that, he'd be paranoid to be seen as weak."

"I'd never go for what?" A voice came from behind me. I turned around and a sleepy Cato was climbing on top of the cornucopia.

"Nevermind." I replied. "So are we going to look for the 11?"

He didn't look convinced but he shook his head. "No, I think we'll wait out a bit, maybe try and find some food. Our stocks are becoming low."

"Fine. Where should we look for food?"

"You any good at hunting?" he asked.

"I'm okay I guess, good enough to snag us a few small animals."

"Okay, you go hunt, I'll stay here and guard what little supplies we have left." He ordered.

I nodded and jumped off the cornucopia before running into the forest. Finally I was allowed to do something for myself. Ever since the tracker-jacker incident Cato had demanded we stay alert and stick together, I knew he'd be able to handle anyone who tried to invade our camp.

I secretly hoped I'd run into the girl from five whilst I was hunting, however I had no such luck. I did manage to kill a few small animals and a rather plump bird. Whilst I was examining my last kill on the way back to the cornucopia I felt the uneasy presence of someone again. I was adamant that Cato was still back at camp, I carefully surveyed the foliage around me, there was no-one around that I could see. My pace quickened as I made my way through the undergrowth back to Cato.

"I thought you were 'okay' at hunting!" he exclaimed when I showed him my hunting efforts; six squirrels, two rabbits and one heck of a fat bird. "Did you slit all their throats?"

"No, I actually set up traps and then broke their necks when they got caught." I boasted. "Just like you did with the boy from three."

His eyes seemed to light up when I said that. It was as if he was proud that I learnt from him. "Well….good job." He muttered. Cato was never a person for compliments, and probably never will be, but it still made me feel happy when he praised me.

We skinned the animals and plucked the feathers off the bird; Cato made a fire and started cooking a few of the squirrels as I prepared the bird for roasting. It wouldn't matter if they went cold after we cooked them 'cause they'd still be edible, the trick is to have them all cooked so we can eat them when we need them the most. That didn't stop me sneaking chunks off the rabbits that had already cooked.

At first Cato didn't notice, however when an entire leg was gone off one of them he was a little confused to say the least. "Where did the leg go?" he asked as he placed some cooked squirrel on a piece of wood we were using as a plate.

"Um…" I uttered wiping my mouth.

He took one look at me and then burst out laughing. "You're not a good liar Clove." He said finally after laughing for a while.

"I was hungry, and _I _was the one who caught it." I said in my defence.

"That is a good point." He replied holding the bird over the fire. "Get some more wood for me?"

I sighed and left the camp again in search of firewood. Tomorrow he was getting everything, I quickly gathered some dry branches and got back to camp. The sun was high in the sky meaning it was about midday, it was also quite hot today. I couldn't decide if the game-makers were going to cause a drought or leading us to think there will be no rain and then unleashing a hurricane on us. The wood was added to the fire and the remaining foodwas cooked, Cato wasted no time in eating.

* * *

Despite Cato saying we'd be going to find the boy from 11 we found ourselves simply sat in the sunshine, it was an odd occurrence to say the least. I felt too vulnerable out in the open like this, as if someone could easily pick us off with an arrow or something. Everytime I heard a twig snap or the trees rustle I'd flinch and turn to where I heard it, at first so did Cato but after a while he seemed to stop caring – however he got a little annoyed after a while.

"God damn it Clove, nobody's there!" he snapped. "It's probably the animals."

"I don't care." I sulked "And I thought we were going to look for the 11 today." I pouted.

"I decided against it. The game-makers will draw us all back together at some point anyway so why not just rest up until either that happens or he comes to find us?" Even though I was currently bored I agreed with him, why waste energy?

We sat and waited, every now and then one of us would climb on top of the cornucopia to have a look for other tributes. Time passed slowly. We didn't talk much, and when we did it was only about how we'd killed the remaining tributes.

"I'm thinking we should break the 11's neck…" Cato contemplated.

"Too easy, I want him to be in pain." I replied.

"You always want that, save all your angst for firegirl."

I laughed, it never occurred to me to think of killing her single-handedly. We always worked as a team, unless our mentors instructed otherwise.

"Indeed, 5 will be harder to find. She moves to quickly and quietly, she's smart too so any trap will most likely be a waste of time." He went on. "I guess the game-makers will lure her to us eventually. Then we'll be at an advantage."

"Well it seems like you have this all figured out." I remarked. "We just need to actually _kill _them now."

The sky overhead darkened, it wasn't nightfall, not yet. The clouds were black and threatening, a distant rumble of thunder confirmed my thoughts that there was going to be a storm. Yet we had nowhere to shelter other than the cornucopia – which was blood stained and quite cramped inside. However Cato seemed unfazed by its condition as he gathered up our make-shift camp and relocated it inside the metal shell. Sure enough once we were both inside it started raining like there was no tomorrow. I hoped the other tributes drowned in the river.

* * *

The rain had been relentless for what seemed like weeks, although it had only been two days. Our food stock was running low again however hunting wasn't going to happen in this weather. Cato was getting irritated as we hadn't been able to do anything for nearly 48 hours now except sleep and talk – and he wasn't a talker, regardless of what the Capitol people were told by the media – he didn't _like _talking. Not when it was with me, alone in the metal shell of the cornucopia.

"This is stupid." He muttered for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Blame the game-makers Cato…they are obviously doing it for a reason." I sighed as I led staring the roof over us.

"We're running out of food Clove, we need to do something."

"There's always the sponsors."

"Like they're going to give us anything – if we're not killing then we're nothing to them."

"Cato I doubt they'd let us die."

"I need to eat Clove, my strength depends on it." Classic Cato; never caring about anyone but himself.

"And you think _I _don't need to eat?" I replied.

We sat there in silence, which had occurred a lot in the past two days, sooner or later he was going to flip out and do something stupid. I wondered why we hadn't heard the cannon go off, surely loverboy's wound was killing him…unless they were getting parachutes from their sponsors…I wondered if we'd get anything if we'd start a star-crossed lovers act. I quickly banished that thought from my mind.

"Ugh, how else could we get food?" Cato snapped, standing up and nearly hitting his head on the roof in the process.

"Sponsors, hunting, stealing from another tribute, foraging….." I listed off.

"Stop being a smart aleck and think properly!"

"I am!" I snapped back.

"Yeah right. How do you think loverboy's survived? Because of the bloody sponsors!"

"Well maybe we should think of someway to charm them ourselves then!" I shouted standing up to face him.

He stared at me, I stared back. The rain drummed on the cornucopia above us and made the silence between us all the more noticeable. A smirk started playing on his lips, it unsettled me slightly, I wanted to know what he was thinking but I was too scared to ask.

"Well…got any ideas?" he asked, smirking slightly.

"….no…you?" I lied.

"…how does 'the star-crossed lovers of District two' sound?" he answered "…'Raised to kill instead of love'…"

I laughed, mainly because I imagined the faces of our mentors as they watched this exchange. Truth is the idea wasn't _that bad_, it just needed a lot of good acting to pull it off. He continued smirking but his eyes portrayed something else, I wasn't sure what but it was not a simple desire to live by lying to the Capitol audience.

I nodded. It dawned on me that if our sponsors were watching then they'd know it was all an act…unless we really did a good job of it. As soon as I had nodded he pulled me into an embrace; my short skinny build against his tall muscular one, his arms held me securely and close to his chest. I could feel his heart beating steadily as the minutes ticked by.

"Well then Clover, let's win this game and start a life together." He said.

"You bet Cato." I smiled. Killing these last few tributes was going to be even easier if our act paid off, but one thing nagged me in the back of my mind; what if we _did _win? Would Cato still want to have a life together? The question burned inside of me as we sunk to the ground and listened to the rain, still wrapped in each other's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's the second chapter, way earlier than expected! Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 2**

The rain was becoming more of an annoyance than I thought was possible, however Cato wasn't letting it dampen his spirits. He took any opportunity to caress and cuddle me, he was behaving like a puppy, it kind of sickened me yet at the same time I found myself _enjoying _it. Surprisingly enough it was working; we had received three parachutes in the past six hours, each with bundles of food attached to them.

As I nibbled on a piece of exotic Capitol fruit, which was sticky in nature, I stared out at the rain. Parts of the grassland were partly flooded and now resembled a marshland, Cato followed my gaze and seemed to read my mind;

"I doubt anyone will be out in this. Even the girl from 5 will have the sense to stay away." He muttered.

"How do you suppose the game-makers will draw us back together?" I asked whilst swallowing the last of the weird fruit. Its sticky juice remaining on my lips.

"I don't know." He replied looking at me, he appeared lost for words before leaning in; his face inches from mine.

"Wha-what are you doing?" I whispered leaning away from him, half in fright and half in confusion.

"…you have juice on your lips…" he murmured, lightly running one of his fingers across my lips and scraping the excess fruit off. He then _licked _it off his finger with a smirk, I felt my cheeks redden before sighing heavily.

"You could've _told _me." I muttered, wiping the rest of my mouth with my sleeve. Cato simply laughed.

"Yes but that would've been boring."

We fell into silence again, only this time it was actually silent; the rain had stopped and the sun was shining once again. Both of us looked at the now brightly lit opening of the cornucopia, after a few moments I slowly edged my way out into the open air. The smell of the forest surrounded me, the wet grass and trees…there was something else I could smell but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

Cato appeared next to me, a little too close got my liking but I dare not protest. "I think…" he said "We should move away from the cornucopia a little bit…maybe towards the lake."

"Why?"

"Just to liven things up a little, plus I want to wash a bit..." he replied. I shrugged my shoulders and went back into the cornucopia to pack up anything we'd need.

Soon enough we were at the lake, it wasn't exactly a massive journey away from the cornucopia but it was far enough away for us to need to take our stuff with us. As we reached the lake I noticed it was far bigger than I remember, probably because it had flooded due to the heavy rainfall. Cato placed his sword down on the bank before taking his shirt off, he had an impressive figure underneath it, it was no wonder with how strong he was.

"See something you like?" he asked, smirking as he waded into the cool water. I just sat on a rock and laughed lightly.

"Depends on the context." I replied.

He laughed in reply, I don't know how long we spend there but he seemed to spend a long time just wading in the water, occasionally going underwater and resurfacing a few seconds later completely drenched. I couldn't ignore his chest glistening in the sunlight as the water reflected off him. He waded over to the rock I was sat on and brushed his lips against my cheek, I nearly dropped the knife I was cleaning in to the water with surprise.

"You're gonna have to play along a bit better to make this work Clover…" he whispered

My breathing became quicker, he was doing all her could to make this as real as possible and also make me feel slightly uncomfortable. His lips remained barely centimetres from my cheek, I turned to say something to him when he leaned closer, our lips connected. All I could think about was how soft his lips were as he reached up his hand and stroked my face, his other hand was on my back, pulling me closer to him. I ran my hands through his wet hair as the kiss deepened, he growled quietly in protest before breaking away from me, smirking like a Cheshire cat, which gave me a wicked idea for a nickname for him…

"Enjoy yourself Kitty-cat?" I laughed.

"What did you just call me?" he asked

"Kitty-cat, because you were grinning like the Cheshire cat out of Alice in wonderland." I explained.

"Oh now you're in for it." He replied picking me up off the rock in his strong arms, he then waded out into the lake before roughly kissing my cheek and dropping me into the cold water. I splashed to the surface; spluttering and laughing, he was going to pay for that. "Aw does the Clover not like water?" he taunted from the bank of the lake.

"Not when I'm _dropped _into it." I replied, swimming to the edge of the lake and stumbling out.

Cato was about to reply when we heard the familiar beeping of a parachute coming towards us, we both stopped and watched it land on the rock next to my knives. Curiosity mounting inside of us we made our way to it and opened the metal box connected to it to reveal a dagger and a box of chocolates. There was also a note from our mentor; **"Use them both to gain more sponsors – I leave the rest to you."**

I picked up the dagger and examined it; the blade was long and quite sharp, it would probably be able to do a lot of damage if needed be. Cato had picked up the box containing Capitol chocolates, they were all coated in milk chocolate, each having their own little intricate icing patterns on them in different colours. I wasn't sure what their use was until Cato looked at me with a certain look in his eye that would make any normal girl beg for him to father their children, however I am not normal so I just stared at him.

"Clover, do you want some chocolate?" he asked, his eyes not losing sight of mine.

"Um…okay." I replied. He picked out a square piece which had been drizzled in pale green icing. He brought it to my lips and raise his eyebrows suggestively. I parted my lips and he slid the sugar-laden treat inside my mouth. The taste was heavenly, I couldn't stop a smile from breaking out on my face. I picked out another one from the box and held it up to Cato, he smirked as he took the chocolate from my fingers in between his perfect lips.

"I could get used to this…" he said as he sat down on the rock next to my knives.

"I'm sure you could." I replied sitting next to him, still holding the box.

"When we win this and get a house in Victor's village, I'll make sure they fly in boxes of these chocolates for you." He whispered in my ear as he put his arm around my shoulders. "and that's a promise."

I looked into his ice blue eyes, something about them told me he wasn't just putting on an act anymore, however asking him was out of the question. I simply smiled and nodded before feeding him another chocolate.

It didn't take us long to finish them off, it was getting close to nightfall and neither of us could be bothered to walk back to the cornucopia. We decided to just sleep by the lake tonight, after all as long as someone kept watch then we'd be safe. Cato demanded that I take the first sleep again, as I fell asleep in his arms I became aware of a weird feeling inside of me; I seemed to be feeling _happy,_ truly happy…this was certainly an odd experience.

* * *

The growls from my stomach woke me up, it was morning, Cato had stayed awake all night – or at least attempted to – he was fast asleep next to me; arms locked around my small torso. I was slightly annoyed that he hadn't woken me up to keep watch yet one look at his soft sleeping face made any anger disappear. He looked so innocent; if I hadn't known he was a killing machine I would've sworn he wouldn't be able to hurt a fly. I twisted around in his hold to face him, my fingers traced his pale lips and his jawline, he stirred slightly mumbling something about home. My heart ached to be home right now, home…with him and our families. Just the two of us; victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games.

My hand was caressing his face when he woke up, at first he was surprised but he leaned his forehead against mine. "Mornin'." He said.

"I believe the phrase you are looking for is; I'm sorry I fell asleep whilst on watch." I smirked.

"I did what?" he asked, pulling me closer to him.

"I woke up and you were asleep." I replied.

"I'm so sorry, how can I make it up to you?"

I was about to reply when the Capitol anthem blared through the forest followed by the voice of Claudius Templesmith; "Attention tributes! There will be a feast at the cornucopia! Some of you may be declining already but this is no ordinary feast; each of you needs something desperately." I looked at Cato in confusion at what we could possibly need from the game-makers, he just shrugged. "Each of you will find that something in a backpack, marked with your district number at the cornucopia at dawn tomorrow. Think hard about your refusal to show up – for some of you this will be your last chance." His voice rang out across the arena

"I have no idea what we 'desperately' need from them." Cato said after a few moments of silence. "Everything I need is right here." He whispered as he looked deep into my eyes.

I took his face in my hands and brought his face close to mine so our lips were touching. We stayed led on the bank of the lake for what seemed like hours before deciding we had to move. I gathered up all my knives, including the dagger, and he put his shirt back on and acquired his sword.

"Where to then Kitty-cat?" I asked.

"I don't know Clover, I don't think hanging out too close to the cornucopia is a good idea. I think the woods just beyond it would be ideal." He replied, ignoring the nickname.

"Okay then."

We set off side by side heading towards the woodland beyond the cornucopia, the air was dense and hot like there had been no wind or rain for weeks. It made travelling through foliage difficult, so did carrying seven knives. Thankfully Cato was carrying any equipment we'd need like sleeping bags and firewood, as we walked he started spinning me the description of our house in Victor's village we'd share. It was beginning to concern me that he was taking this far too seriously. After what seemed like hours had passed we reached a small clearing not too far away from the grasslands where to the 'feast' would take place, we wasted no time in setting up a make-shift camp and then we had to sort out tactics.

"Who do we go for?" I asked "This is the game-makers drawing all of us in, we need a plan."

"Okay, you seem set on killing firegirl so if you get a chance go after her. I'll keep my eyes open for the 11." Cato replied. "Loverboy will still be too injured and I bet you that's what is in the 12's bag – medicine. The only one left after that is 5."

"She'll either wait for it to all end or get in quickly and leave again." I speculated. "I don't think we should worry about her, she doesn't seem the type to kill. We can save her until last."

"Okay, so now we just need to figure out _how _we're going to get them."

"Ambush." He uttered. "Lure firegirl into a false sense of security and then strike. Hard and fast."

"And what are you going to do about the 11?" I asked.

"Wound him to start with, then break his neck whilst he's down."

"Sounds like a plan." I smirked. My stomach growled in protest, I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday's chocolates. "We don't have any food left do we?"

"Nope. That's probably what's in our bag, however we both need to eat between now and tomorrow morning." Cato acknowledged.

"…we could always ask the sponsors.." I mumbled. Cato's eyes met mine as soon as I said that. He abandoned his sword which he had been polishing with leaves and came over to me, he lifted me up before sitting down with me sat on his lap. His fingers untied the ribbon holding my hair together and gently ran them through my tangled hair, his warm breath tickled the back of my neck as he combed my hair through with his fingers and started braiding it.

I wondered where he had learnt to braid hair, as if he read my mind he answered; "My younger sister is always asking me to do her hair, she says I have softer fingers than our older brother."

"What about your mother?" I asked. I hadn't known Cato until reaping day when he volunteered as tribute in the place of a scrawny boy who would've been killed in the first ten minutes.

"She died when I was twelve." He said.

"Oh…I'm sorry…." I mumbled feeling guilty.

"Don't worry about it, I miss her occasionally, but not as much as I miss my siblings right now." He replied. "If anything I want to win this for them – give them both a better life." He finished braiding my hair and tied it into a neat bun with the ribbon. "And of course to be with you."

"Cato…" I whispered turning around to face him. This was a completely different side to him I never knew existed, I doubt our mentors even knew about it. Everyone just assumed he was the killing machine from district two, that he had no emotions, that he didn't have a proper reason to win other than for glory. Yet I was sat here with a boy who was putting his life on the line for his siblings, it was just so odd.

"Clove, promise me you'll kill the firegirl." He said.

I nodded, "I promise Cato."

"Also, tell me one thing; why do you want to win the hunger games?"

I was lost for words, I wasn't sure why I wanted to win, I had no family who cared about me, I had no-one to fight for, the only thing I was fighting for was my life. I didn't care about the glory and then fame, I just wanted to live. I couldn't tell him that though; not after he told me so much about him in just a single sentence.

"I want to win, so I can be with you." The words tumbled out of my mouth before I knew what was happening. His face relaxed into a smile, not a smirk, a genuine smile.

"Well, I guess that means we're in this together until the end then. He smiled back.

"When we win, you can come and live with me in my villa in Victor's village and give yours to your siblings." I said.

"I'd like that." He murmured. We were about to lock into another embrace when a snapping twig alerted us to someone or something watching us. I rolled off of Cato's lap and grabbed one of my knives out of my belt, he reached across the clearing and grabbed his sword, we stood back to back surveying the area – listening for further sounds. I heard something running so I threw my knife out in the direction of the noise, we heard a small wail before whatever it was hit the floor.

Cato went crashing through the trees ahead of me, we came across the bloodied knife lying on the forest floor. "Well I didn't miss…I just didn't injure them fatally enough." I sulked.

"Good shot though." Cato said patting my shoulder. "Who was it though…"

"5. The 11 would've come at us rather than running away." I replied. "She's running now, running to find a place to asses her injury safely."

"Let's get back to the clearing, maybe there's a parachute for us." He suggested. Sure enough when we got back there was a parachute clinging to a small metal container, I untied it and opened the lock; an abundance of food awaited us; fruit, chocolate, meat, even a canister of water.

"Imagine what they'd give us if we did _it_.." I heard Cato whisper.

"WHAT?" I snapped, taking an apple from the box and shoving it at him. "I'm not doing anything like _that _in the arena!" I continued.

"Oh? So on the train back home?" he smirked.

"Cato, focus on killing the tributes before trying to get into bed with me please." I bluntly instructed, biting into my apple. He laughed, how easily the mood changed between us….

* * *

When the sun rose the next morning I woke Cato up, unlike him I actually managed to stay awake during my watch. He grumbled at first before realising that we had the opportunity to kill a few tributes today, he then perked up considerably.

"You clear on the plan?" he asked as he sharpened his sword.

"Let firegirl think she's safe, then strike fast and hard." I replied. "You'll keep an eye out for the 11. Also 5 is not a target but if I get the chance; kill her."

"Good, let's go. We'll hide in the bushes near the mouth of the cornucopia." He nodded triumphantly. As quietly as we could, we made our way through the forest and found a dense bush that could hide us both with a perfect view of the cornucopia. Now it was just a waiting game.

I saw the girl from 5 sprinting for her bag, she was going too fast for me to throw a knife at her. Plus it would alert the real target to our position, we let her sprint back into the forest beyond the tail of the cornucopia.

"Come on firegirl.." I hissed "show yourself…"

Cato slinked off into the bushes to see if he could flush her out, leaving me watching the three remaining bags, collecting ours was not a priority but it probably would be useful to have. I then saw her, running steadily towards the table, I readied a knife as she picked up the bag and continued running.

I threw it, it surprised her as was the intention, she had the nerve to aim an arrow at me as I dashed from the bushes. My years of training taught me well as I dodged it, I threw another knife – this one hit her in the head but sadly only caused a minor cut. She once again aimed an arrow at me, missed by miles though. I slammed into her side and pinned her down on the ground, she struggled for a while but I managed to get her immobile.

"Where's loverboy then? Is he still alive?" I taunted, her eyes wide with fright and determination.

"He's hunting Cato." She snarled. "PEETA!" I jammed my fist into her throat. As if he'd be able to help her, but just to humour her I looked around, no sign of either boy.

"Liar." I smirked. "Cato wounded him pretty badly. I bet you have him strapped up in a tree somewhere waiting for you to return with the _precious_ medicine." I took the dagger from our sponsors out of my belt. "I've been waiting to do this for a long time twelve. Cato knows it, he said I could kill you."

She struggled still, I had to resort to kicking her several times to get her to lie still. "Forget it twelve, I'm going to kill you like Marvel killed your ally, what was her name? _Rue_?" I started moving her face form side to side, debating where to cut her. "I don't think you'll have much use for these anymore." I said lining the knife up with her lips. "Want to blow loverboy one last kiss?"

The bitch had the nerve to spit in my face. That did it. I applied pressure to the knife at her mouth and was about to start slicing her jaw to pieces when I suddenly felt light, too light. I was being lifted off my prey and into the air.

"What did you do to that little girl? You kill her?" a booming voice asked. It was the 11. Now I can see why Cato didn't want me alone. Where was he?

"No! No it wasn't me!" I replied

"I heard you say her name! What did you do to her?" he continued.

"I didn't do-" I saw the rock in his hands. I was done for. "CATO!" I screamed "CATO"

"CLOVE!" I hear his response, I couldn't see him. I was now being lifted and pushed against the cornucopia by the giant from 11. He repeatedly threw me against it, my head felt like it was on fire.

Firegirl just watched, the nerve of her. I continued screaming for Cato until my voice was horse. The 11 was lifting the rock, seemingly to finish me off when I was suddenly on the ground. I heard grunting and snarling, I looked up to see Cato had the giant in a head lock, his face sealed in concentration.

"Don't just sit there! Kill him!" Cato snarled at me.

I grabbed the dagger from the ground and drove it into the 11's chest, without any resistance Cato then snapped his neck. We turned to where the firegirl had been, she was gone. Long gone. I collapsed to the floor, my head hurt and I was exhausted, so was Cato. He came over and pulled me close to his rapidly beating heart.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner." He muttered. "I should've killed him when I first saw him."

"It's okay, only three more to go now." I replied.

"I'll protect you from now until the end of the games," He whispered. "and for the rest of your life." He pulled away and looked me straight in the eyes. "I promise."

I nodded and pulled his face down to level with mine. I kissed him, long and hard. "We'll do this together."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Quick update - apologies if there are a few small errors, it's nearly midnight here in England.**

I blinked, I was staring at the treetops, why was I on the floor? Where was I? How did I get here?

"Clove? Are you awake?" Cato's slightly panicked voice asked.

"…yeah…how did I get here?" I replied, my head was hurting like crazy.

"I carried you here…you collapsed shortly after we killed the 11…" he told me, there was a certain amount of concern in his voice but he was trying desperately to hide it.

"Oh…how long have I been out?"

"A few hours. No-one's been around, the girl from 5 has stayed clear of us and the mutts from 12 are nowhere to be found."

I sat up and looked around, Cato hadn't been doing anything productive other than building a fire and cleaning his sword. My eyes fell upon my bloodied knife and the bag marked with a 2 next to it, I reached out but then my sight became blurry. Before I knew it I was receding into darkness, I could hear Cato calling my name over and over but could do nothing about it…

_Cato's P.O.V_

"Clove?" I asked, she didn't respond. "CLOVE." I repeated. It was no good, she had gone again. Whatever that 11 did to her was effecting her badly, if only the god damn sponsors would give us _something _to sort it out. She hadn't been like this for hours, she'd been like it for _days_. She hadn't eaten, neither had I, paranoid that she'd be picked off by the girl from 5 if I left her alone.

I looked through the treetops to the sky, hoping a parachute would drop down with a remedy for whatever was wrong, I couldn't bare it if I had to go home, not without her. Her knife still led next to the bag, I picked both of them up and started wiping the knife with my shirt. It tore several times as I wiped the dried flecks of blood off, such a small weapon yet so dangerous – just like Clove.

My thoughts turned to the bag, I hadn't opened it yet as I had been too focused on keeping Clove alive. The bag didn't look as if it contained much, then again I wasn't sure what we 'needed' as such other than some sort of remedy for Clove – but that would mean the gamemakers would've had to have known what the 11 was going to do…

I shook my head and opened the bag, it had a small wooden box inside, within the box was a small glass bottle of purple liquid. It didn't smell of anything nor did it taste of anything, there was no label so I had no idea what is was.

"What the fuck is this supposed to do?" I snapped, disturbing a flock of birds somewhere in the forest. The only thing I could come up with was it was some sort of Capitol product that would help us – which was the entire point of the 'feast'.

My stomach growled quietly, it had been doing that a lot. Not eating for several days has its disadvantages but I couldn't leave her unprotected. I got up and sat by her, I tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, my hand resting on her pale cheek. She looked so defenceless, so fragile, just led there totally unaware of her surroundings, almost angelic…

"No Cato." I muttered as I caught myself daydreaming. "Just no. Clove is too deadly to be angelic."

My stomach refused to let me forget about its desire for food, I had to find someway to protect my only remaining ally and get food. It hit me, _snares_, set some traps and then I won't have to actively go looking for food and I can make sure nothing happens to Clove. I placed her under a small shelter I had built and put her newly cleaned knife next to her in case she woke up whilst I was gone. I then collected my sword and some tattered rope we had lying around before glancing at her one last time and setting off into the woods, I promised myself to not go too far and to not take forever – all I needed was one or two kills to keep us going.

* * *

I returned from setting up a few snares to Clove, still sleeping where I had left her, totally undisturbed, half of me sighed in relief and half of me was still concerned for her. It was hard to figure out what time of day it was as the trees obscured the sun but it was certainly hot, I sat next to Clove again, measuring out how much rope I had left to make any new traps with when I saw the bottle again. Obviously we needed it, or were going to need it shortly, if only I knew what it was _for_.

"…Cato…" A faint whisper came from next to me. I looked down at the small body of my ally. "…Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in the forest Clove…" I replied "We're in the arena. Wake up." I lightly shook her, she sat up and looked around, she seemed more aware of what was happening – I hoped it would last.

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, looking directly at me with a hard stare.

"A couple of days, about three at most." I answered hoping she wouldn't be mad.

"And what have _you _been doing?" she asked.

"Uh. Making sure you didn't get killed. I set up some traps so we can catch some food."

She turned away, surveying the clearing and the woodland. "So what was in the bag?"

I was relieved her memory was more or less intact. "A bottle of…something…I don't know what."

"Let me see it."

She was being very demanding for someone who had been unconscious for three days, I handed her the bottle and she examined it, smelt it, tasted it and then promptly drank the entire contents.

"What are you doing?" I exclaimed.

"It was a painkiller. Obviously they assumed that if we needed anything it would be painkillers." She replied "And I think we'll both agree that I'm in more need of it than you."

I stared at her. Where had the Clove who promised to start a life with me go? I was more than confused. She seemed to read my facial expression and broke into a smile.

"You're so easy to confuse Cato." She smirked.

She had been playing a joke on me….she..was..joking..

_Clove's P.O.V_

I laughed, his expression said everything; he was confused and it was funny. My head still hurt but not as much as it had been, my priority now was to eat.

"So when are you going to check your traps?" I asked the still confused Cato.

"I-uh…I don't know.." he replied.

I saw my knife in the shelter perfectly cleaned, I then saw that Cato's shirt was ripped around the edge – I put two and two together and smiled. He'd cleaned my knife whilst I was out of it. _How sweet._ I picked it up and slotted it into my belt with its siblings before looking back at him – he was peering into the forest at something…or someone. He gestured for me to follow him as he disappeared into the foliage, our careful footsteps were almost silent amongst the birds chirping away around us. With our weapons drawn we continued trekking through the undergrowth until we found another clearing; it had a camp set up similar to ours…

"Well…I think we found 5's camp…" he whispered to me. I nodded in reply, she didn't appear to be around but that didn't mean she wasn't here, after all she could move through the forest quickly and silently. Without a doubt she would be the hardest to eradicate.

"…so do we wait? Or do we leave?" I asked.

"…do you feel up to combat?" he replied.

"Of course Cato. Years of training taught me to be ready anytime and anywhere."

"Okay, we'll wait a while."

We waited, it was getting dark and I wasn't one hundred percent sure if she was even intending to come back when we heard the cannon go off. I turned to Cato, he looked blankly back at me before shrugging.

"So…out of those three who just died?" he speculated.

"Loverboy? Maybe the precious medicine didn't work."

"Nah, it probably did. 5 might have killed firegirl though…."

"I think we should get ourselves to the cornucopia…" I said "Something tells me that shit's about to go down and that is the place we'll be drawn to anyway."

Cato nodded, we headed back in silence and gathered up the necessary stuff to survive, we then found Cato's traps - which had successfully caught three rabbits – before walking back through the forest to the cornucopia. By the time we got to the metal shell it was dark, only the moon provided light for us.

"Well, we're here now. So what do we do? Sleep?" he asked as we looked around for any signs of life.

"I don't think so." I replied. I had a feeling things were about to get messy and that we were about to meet the last two tributes. "I want to get on top this thing." I said gesturing to the cornucopia. "Get a better look around."

"Alright." He gave me a boost up on top of the slippery surface of the structure, I then gave him a hand up too. We sat looking over the trees in the moonlight, sleep wasn't going to occur tonight. We skinned the rabbits and ate them raw – too lazy to cook them.

"We'll probably die of some sort of food poisoning you know." Cato joked as we finished eating.

"Oh well, at least we'll die together." I replied quietly.

He turned to me, half his face illuminated in the silvery light of the moon and half hidden in the shadows, it made him look mysterious in a number of ways – unlike I've ever seen him before. A hand came up to my face and stroked my cheek, I didn't protest, we were about to have the final showdown and I wasn't prepared to lose but sometimes the odds just aren't in your favour…

"Clove.." he whispered, his face suddenly closer to mine. "Let me…."

"Let you what?" I asked.

Next thing I knew Cato was kissing me, on top of the cornucopia, in the moonlight, right in the middle of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, and I was _enjoying _it. It ended quickly though as he pulled away – his eyes glinting in the moonlight. We sat in an awkward silence for a while before a distant howl of an animal brought us out of our thoughts.

"What…was that?" I asked slowly.

"I don't know, there aren't any native animals that make that noise here…we would've seen them or at least some evidence of them." Cato replied standing up.

We then heard screaming and running followed by growling. Whatever it was…it was scaring the other two tributes towards us. I grabbed a knife from my belt and Cato grabbed his sword, whoever was left; we were going to kill them. I dragged Cato to the tail of the cornucopia where we crouched in wait – hoping to surprise our victims when they climbed the cornucopia to safety.

"Ready to win Clover?" he asked with a smirk playing on his lips.

"Totally Kitty-cat." I replied. The howls were getting louder, I could hear the frantic yells from the woods nearby. We then saw them; Loverboy and a girl, running towards the metal shell. Behind them was a pack of what looked to be dogs in pursuit – they were the size of horses and were howling all along.

The girl reached the cornucopia and lifted herself up before turning to her partner and lifting him up beside her, the pack of dogs scratching the base of our safe house. Cato crept out from the shadow of the tail and grabbed Loverboy in a headlock, the girl spun around and lifted her bow – it was firegirl alright.

"Ah, I can do this!" Cato said placing a hand on Loverboy's head, for a baker's son he sure knew how to struggle. "I can end it here."

Firegirl kept her arrow pointed at Cato, she obviously thought I was dead or just not here, which played to our advantage actually. Loverboy continued struggling against Cato's grasp, I had to time this just right otherwise things could get ugly.

"Let him go!" She screamed. The dogs howled in protest at not getting fed.

"Nu-uh." Cato replied tightening his grasp, I slide myself slowly sideways so I was directly behind her, one knife would be all it took, then loverboy would be tossed to the dogs and we'll be the victors.

I clenched my hand around the handle of the knife, I then noticed that loverboy was trying to tell his partner to shoot Cato's hand. It was now or never. I launched myself onto my feet and at Firegirl, I disarmed her and threw her to down to the roof. She screamed in response as I pinned her down for the second time these games.

"Shut it already!" I snapped. "You die here firegirl." I held my knife against her throat. I heard Cato encouraging me to finish her. "Gladly, you've caused me many problems Katniss, and now you pay."

Her eyes widened, I slit her throat. Blood poured out onto my hands, she gasped and then lay limp under my weight, I wasn't satisfied though, I stabbed her and ripped her torso with the knife covering myself in more blood. The cannon fired. Loverboy screamed her name over and over again until Cato snapped his neck. Once again, the cannon fired. We had done it. We could go home.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, sorry it's taken me forever to update but have 5 exams has put me behind. Unfortunately I still have about 11 exams to do so possibly no more updates for another month :( I will write when i get the chance to!**

The sun quickly rose soon after the cannon fired, obviously the game makers were satisfied about the night's events. Cato helped me down off the cornucopia and we sat against it, patiently waiting for the hovercraft to pick us up. After a while Cato was starting to get bored.

"Where are they?" he complained "We've won, there's no-one else left."

"I don't know…" I mumbled, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Stupid Capitol. Probably waiting for some rogue mutation to come and get us before they can make us both victors."

"I don't think that's what the audience would want." I replied. The sound of Claudius Templesmith boomed throughout the arena;

"_Greetings final contestants, the last ruling allowing two victors if they are from the same district has been….revoked…after closer inspection of the rulebook. Good luck, and my the odds be ever in your favour._"

My blood turned cold. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't happening, I was dreaming, I had to be.

"Those Capitol bastards!" Cato snapped standing up. "You hear me? You are a bunch of cowardly bastards!" he yelled at the sky

"Cato, I don't think-"

"Clove don't you see? They're trying to get us to kill each other!" He was getting angrier, as that was the only emotion he was probably capable of showing right now.

"Of course I see!" I snapped back "It's not exactly rocket science Cato!"

"Well maybe you should think of a solution if you're so smart then!" He hissed, his grip tightening on his sword. He was getting dangerously angry.

"**I'm **going to go hunting, **you** stay here and think about how the hell we're going to get out of here." I responded before running across the grassland into the forest. I couldn't believe the way he was acting, sure he was upset but he didn't have to get angry like that, I quietly hoped he would be in a better mood once I got back.

The trees were thick and caused visibility to decrease. I trekked through the woodland though, hoping to come across a defenceless animal that would be an easy kill. Sadly all traces of wildlife had disappeared, leaving me with no hint on where to lay in wait for something to kill. It was hot, my loose hair clung to my forehead annoyingly and my hands were slick with sweat, what I would've given to be in a freezing shower at that moment.

I could hear distant calls of birds from around the cornucopia, I was so thirsty in this heat, concentrating on listening for the familiar sounds of a rabbit or squirrel was becoming more and more difficult. If anything it was near impossible.

Eventually I gave up my hiding place, nothing had passed by in what seemed like hours and dehydration was imminent if I didn't get to the lake soon. As I manoeuvred through the twisted roots of the trees and wilting bushes I became aware of a sound from nearby, like snapping twigs, they kept occurring in quick succession after one another. It also felt as if it couldn't get any warmer in the arena, something was wrong, something was _very _wrong.

I looked around, there were orange flames dancing in the dried out leaves of a bush, they were spreading, I was taking no chances, even if I was dehydrated and on the verge of heat frustration I had to run or die in the fire. I ran from the flames, my first instinct was to run toward the lake but I soon realised I'd have to run through the flames to get there, the only other place I could think of was the cornucopia so I ran as fast as I could without falling over.

The fire was spreading rapidly now, helped by the wind and dry foliage. Smoke surrounded me, making it harder to know if I was going in the right direction, flames licked at my heels as I shoved more plants aside. I gasped for breath as the black soot clung to my throat and made my eyes water, _just a little further _I thought to myself as I stumbled out of the trees.

Cato looked up in mild surprise when I came crashing out of the forest, even more so when he noticed the smoke engulfing the woods.

"What happened?" he asked as he flung his sword down and ran to me. I collapsed on the grass gasping for breath.

"…need water…Cato…water..." I panted pointing to our small pile of supplies. He raced back and came back with a full bottle of it. I gulped it down savouring every last drop. I was dripping with sweat as I tore off my waterproof coat, my district shirt stuck to me as I lay panting in the sun.

"The forest is dry as a bone, the fire started because of the dry grass, it spread quickly throughout the woods. The lake is cut off because of it and there are no animals there anymore." I explained to Cato after taking a long gulp of water. I retied my hair back into a ponytail to prevent it sticking to my forehead again. "I can't tell if the Capitol started it or what, but either way we're screwed if there's no rainfall soon."

"Great…" Cato replied quietly. "So we'll die of dehydration before long then."

"Or fire. Starvation too." I continued.

"I couldn't think of any plausible way to get us both out of here."

"Me neither…." I mumbled.

Cato led down on the grass, he closed his eyes and appeared to be asleep. This slightly annoyed me, I had just nearly died and he was taking a nap in the sunshine. Perfect. Then again that was Cato all over wasn't it?

"We could do it you know." He said suddenly without opening his eyes. "We could just die here together and then they'd have no victor."

Why was he suggesting we take the cowards way out? That certainly wasn't Cato's normal attitude, however I didn't know what exactly was Cato's _normal _attitude now. Not since last night when he kissed me.

"Well?" he asked sitting up.

"I don't know, seems cowardly to me." I replied looking at the smoke still rising from the trees.

"Typical Clove, not wanting to seem weak eh?" he smirked. "Clove let's be honest here, I wouldn't be able to kill you if it came down to it. So either you kill me, or we die together." He looked me straight in the eyes.

"Cato…" I uttered. I wouldn't be able to kill him either, I don't know what it was about him but I can't imagine ending his life, I can't imagine seeing him take his last breath as I stabbed him. I just couldn't.

"So are we in agreement then?"

"..yes.." I answered after a pause.

"Okay. Here's how we do it." He started, a small smile playing on his lips as he took my hands in his.

* * *

This was crazy. I knew that we were trying to kill ourselves but this was ridiculous. Cato was obviously deluded if he thought this was going to work.

"Cato, are you _sure _this is going to work?" I asked as we gathered more dry grass and placed it around the cornucopia in the fading evening light.

"Trust me Clove, you won't feel a thing and it'll be quick as a flash." He replied.

I wasn't exactly over the moon about his plan, especially as it might not actually kill us but just injure us badly. I could think of much better ways to kill us both without effort or pain. However Cato was determined to do it his way and I wasn't going to argue.

We collected as many dried out plants as we could and surrounded the cornucopia before he gave me a boost on top of it. This is where it could go horribly wrong. He ran into the forest which had steadily been succumbed to the flames and picked up a tree branch, lit it before running back with it.

"Ready Clove?" He asked as he bent down to light the heap of grass. "Once it's lit there's no going back."

"I'm ready Cato!" I shouted down to him. The grass was lit, it slowly smoked at first whilst Cato heaved himself on top of the metal structure, the grass then began to catch fire.

The cornucopia was already hot because of the heat, it was going to get a lot hotter because of the fire surrounding it. Cato led down on the surface of it and beckoned me to lie on top of him. "Trust me, it'll burn you if you're sat on it."

"But…you'll burn of I'm led on you." I replied.

"Yes, I know. But I'd rather take the pain whilst you succumb to the smoke." He answered.

He wasn't joking, he was being totally serious. His eyes stared into mine as I reluctantly lowered my small body onto his muscular chest, I could feel the heat radiating off the metal beneath him.

"How long will it take?" I whispered.

"I don't know." Cato replied. "Hopefully not long though." He stroked my hair as the fire spread around us. I felt his chest rising and falling rapidly, my hand slipped off his chest and onto the cornucopia. The few seconds I touched the shiny black metal felt like hell, my hand felt as if it was on fire, I didn't want to imagine how much pain Cato was in.

We stayed like that until we were completely surrounded by tall flames dancing in the fading light of the sun. Smoke billowed into the sky yet we just led there without a care in the world. We were prepared to die together, both of us in pain and at the hands of the Capitol's harsh punishment that was the Hunger Games.

"Cato…." I mumbled as our visibility began dropping due to the smoke.

"Yeah?" he whispered.

"…why didn't you just kill me?" I asked. "You could've gone home a victor and forgotten about all of this."

He breathed heavily for a few moments before replying, "Clove, I couldn't possibly live without you. I'd rather die."

"….I'm nothing special." I uttered quietly. "I'm sure there are plenty of girls back home who would've taken my place."

"Stop." He said sharply. "You are worth dying for."

We went back to lying in silence, the heat was getting unbearable. I wondered what the Capitol were thinking about this, were they really going to let us both die? Did no-one care anymore? Not that it mattered, we were committed to this now and only they could stop it.

"….so are you…" I replied.

"What?"

"…You are worth dying for too…" I repeated.

"Really?" he asked.

I nodded, the smoke was getting to my throat again, it wouldn't be long now until all this was over. I looked at Cato's relaxed face, for someone who probably had third degree burns on his back he was doing a good job at looking like nothing was wrong. However, his forehead kept creasing every few moments, almost certainly because he was in pain. The flames continued to dance as the sun faded over the horizon, almost like there was no end to the fuel – then again there probably wasn't.

"I love you Clove…" Cato muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"I said, I love you." He repeated. "There's not much time left, please Clove…"

"Cato…" I was so confused, what did he want me to do? That question was answered as he gently pulled my face level with his, despite the smoke I could see in his eyes that he wasn't lying.

"Tell me Clove, do you love me?" he asked, his voice was raspy.

"…yes Cato, I love you." I replied after a pause.

He smiled, his eyes then closed. I thought he was just exhausted at first, but then he wasn't breathing. I shook him slightly, no response. The burns must've gotten too much for him, or the smoke. The cannon hadn't gone off so he was still alive at least.

"Cato?" I asked as I shook him again. "Cato wake up." He still didn't respond. "Cato, I swear to God if you don't wake up I'll…I'll..uh.." I started coughing, the smoke was thick and surrounding me. The world was spinning but I had to stay awake, just so I could see his smile again, so I could look into those eyes again, hear his laugh again.

"Cato _please _wake up." I whimpered near tears. I slid off him and onto the burning metal shell. I found myself crying, he couldn't be dead. The cannon would've gone off, surely he was just unconscious?

"Cato…" I sobbed kneeling down next to his torso. "My blood-thirsty Cato…" My body felt tired, I knew I wouldn't last much longer. I leaned down and kissed his forehead, almost as if it was a parting kiss. In a way it was, but whatever afterlife there was we'd probably find each other again.

The blanket of smoke was drifting closer to me, this was it, this was the end. The Capitol wouldn't have a victor, maybe they'd stop the games taking place. Highly unlikely but possible. Not that it mattered to us, afterall; Cato was unconscious and I was about to die of smoke inhalation.

The memory of when I first met Cato came flooding back to me. It was the day before the reaping and we were both at the training centre until it was quite late at night. He had seen me throwing knives and scoffed everytime I was slightly off the target – which wasn't often – so I challenged him to a sword fight to put him in his place. We ended up staying 'til nearly two in the morning fighting. The trainers weren't too happy when they found out, not that they could do anything about it as we were reaped less than two hours later.

"Clove…" Cato's raspy voice came from next to me in the smoke.

"Cato?"

"We did it, we're going to beat them at their own game." He uttered.

"I know." I replied taking his hand in mine. "I know Cato."

Over the crackling of the fire we heard a low humming quiet at first but it grew louder. It seemed familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it until we were both doused in freezing cold water. It was the Capitol's hovercraft come to put out the fire and probably make us fight to the death, however Claudius Templesmith's voice once again boomed throughout the arena.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Cato __Hadley and Clove Greenwood, the tributes from district two!"_

What? They reinstated the rule? Since when? What was going on? Cato looked just as confused as I was but soon a look of relief spread across his face as the ladder dropped down. We both grabbed on and soared into the hovercraft. Somehow I doubted that the Capitol were happy about this sudden change in the rules and I knew Cato thought the same. So why _did _they save us?


End file.
